Page 178 - CW E-Magazine (2-1-2024)

Annual GpcA Forum

REDUCING EMISSIONS

‘Low-carbon hydrogen to drive decarbonisation

in chemical sector’

Chemical industry should be em-
bracing low carbon hydrogen as a very
potent form of carbon abatement, ac-
cording to Mr. Sanjiv Lamba, CEO of
industrial gases giant, Linde.“We have
great technologies that promotes low-
carbon intensity hydrogen production,
alongside carbon capture & sequestra-
tion and that is the best and the most
cost-effective way of moving the energy
transition or the industrial decarbo-
nisation agenda forward,” he said.

Mr. Lamba noted that the chemical
industry is probably further advanced From L to R: Mr. Mark Porter (Global Practice Leader, Chemicals Practice, Bain & Company)
than many other industries in decarboni- and Mr. Sanjiv Lamba
sation. Giving an example of the indus- nising where clean energy brings value in particular – is to promote the deve-
try’s initiative, he said Dow is looking for decarbonisation, and being dis- lopment of the infrastructure, to support
at decarbonising their cracker in ciplined about making sure that they technology development, and to make
Alberta, Canada, and have selected Linde progress on those projects,” he said. sure that there are incentives in place to
as their industrial gas partner. “We will drive behaviours,” he said.
be providing hydrogen for their crack- He emphasised the role of partner-
ers – both existing and expansions – to ship along the entire value chain for Commenting on the technology
ensure that the products they produce is decarbonisation to move forward. portfolio for industrial decarbonisation,
low-carbon intent,” he said. Mr. Lamba said at present the mature
Mr. Lamba said the government’s technology available at scale is low-carbon
Speaking about the challenges fac- role in enabling decarbonisation would hydrogen developed by using natural
ing decarbonisation, he highlighted include consensus among countries on gas along with carbon capture seques-
the hype surrounding the topic and the methodologies to assess low-carbon tration. “Longer term the low-carbon
consequent problems. hydrogen, demand activation via long- hydrogen with carbon sequestration is a
term contracted commitments, and sup- bridge to get it to a point where you have
“We know that only around 3-7% of porting the development of the neces- other technologies, including electro-
projects announced actually go to FID sary infrastructure. lysis, giving hydrogen with even lower
(final investment decision). So, you carbon content. But there is a technology
have to cut through the hype and make “The best way to promote clean roadmap and it needs 5-7 years for that
sure that industries are focused on recog- energy – for industrial decarbonisation scale up to happen,” he commented.

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Changing dynamics of consolidation in petrochemicals
The changing trends in mergers and Mr. Richard Sleep, President, Nex- quite radical, particularly in the deve-
acquisitions (M&As) and its impact on antECA, described how industry con- loped markets of Europe, Americas and
industry consolidation were debated by solidation efforts started in the 1980s Japan with merged entities gaining size
industry leaders during an executive and 1990s. “In 1990s, the consolidation and reducing operating costs,” he said.
panel discussion. of the oil and chemical companies was However, even as industry consolida-

178 Chemical Weekly January 2, 2024

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